Anatomy of arteries and veins of uterus and ovaries in rhesus monkeys

Abstract

The vasculature of uterus and ovaries was studied with the aid of a tissue clearing technique in 13 rhesus monkeys. The uterine artery and vein formed two closely associated loops from origin to termination of each vessel. The vessels passed mediad toward the uterus, craniad along the lateral surface of the uterus, laterad toward the ovary, and terminated in a prominent anastomosis with the corresponding ovarian vessel ventral to the internal and external iliac vessels. The cranial arm of the uterine vein and the veins from the oviduct and ovary converged to form a prominent uteroovarian vein. The uteroovarian vein consisted of two channels which were interconnected by anastomoses. The initial one fourth of the ovarian artery was relatively straight, but the remainder was very tortuous or tightly spiraled in both prepubertal and adult monkeys. The spiraled portion of the artery was located between the two channels of the uteroovarian vein. The terminal portion of the ovarian artery was very convoluted and was associated with venous branches from the ovary. The spiraling and convolutions of the ovarian artery and the close apposition of the spirals to the channels of the uteroovarian vein resulted in a large area of surface contact between vessels which contained ovarian arterial blood and vessels which contained uterine and ovarian venous blood. The function of this large area of surface contact is not known. However, it does provide an anatomical basis for the existence of a venoarterial pathway for the passage of substances between the uteroovarian venous blood and ovarian arterial blood.